


What an Apothecary Does

by HanukoYoukai



Series: Octopath Fics [1]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Injury, Medicine, wound care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28970571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanukoYoukai/pseuds/HanukoYoukai
Summary: “Who are you?” Therion asked, brows lowered in suspicion.“You bumped into me,” he replied, ignoring his question. The scrape of stone on stone accompanied his words. “Just outside. Gave me a bottle I dropped before you collapsed. Remember?”Therion didn’t remember. The last thing he could recall was that giant lizard crawling out of the water to meet him, maw open to reveal dozens of sharp teeth.
Relationships: Alfyn Greengrass & Therion
Series: Octopath Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124936
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	What an Apothecary Does

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've finished (most of) Octopath Traveler, and I am ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH IT! It's such a good game, I love it. Pretty art, fun old-school sprites, a nice battle system, and the STORIES! They're so fun!
> 
> So I decided to dip my toe in fandom and write my own fic. And maybe a second one. And I might have an idea for a third....
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It was a quiet little place. Remote. Quaint. The perfect spot for him to hide out while he recovered. That last encounter had been brutal. He pulled his scarf up, hiding his face as he entered the small river town.

Therion winced, gripping his side. He was out of grapes, and he barely had enough leaves for a meal, let alone medicine. He wasn’t even sure if he could live up to his namesake as a master thief in his condition. He would be lucky to stumble upon some hapless fool that carried what he needed.

Therion grunted as a giant of a man ran into him, causing him to fall to his knees. Strong hands gripped his shoulders, making pain lance through him. He managed to clamp down on the distressed moan that threatened to escape his lips.

“Sorry!” the brunet said, contritely. Therion slipped his hand into the other’s pocket while he was distracted trying to pull the thief back to his feet. He waved the scruffy giant off and slipped away, hand gripped tightly around his prize. It was a bottle of some sort. Perhaps it would help.

“Alfyn!” a small child cried. “Alfyn, did you find it? The stuff to fix Nina?”

“Don’t worry, Lily.” Therion listened on as he looked for a private place to heal his wounds. He examined the vial in his hand, furrowing his brow when he realized there was no way for him to identify the contents.

_What is this?_ He thought, peering at the yellowish liquid.

“Oh no!” Therion wrapped his hand around the vial, ensuring it was hidden from view.

“What’s wrong?”

“Lily, look around—I dropped a little bottle of venom—it’s what Zeph needs to make Nina’s medicine. It has yellow water inside.”

Therion frowned down at his hand, then back up at the poor fool he had pickpocketed. Venom wouldn’t do Therion any good. The brunet had gotten down on his hands and knees, searching in the grass for his lost treasure. Therion’s mouth twisted into a grimace.

_“You’re soft.”_

_“I just don’t understand the point. We didn’t need it, and it won’t be worth much when we sell it—”_

_“You listen and listen good. This world takes, partner. It takes and takes and doesn’t give nothing back. So we have to take too, or we won’t survive, you hear me?”_

Therion sighed, ignoring the old voice in his head from his past. He staggered back to the other man, halting when he was directly in front of him.

“Hey.”

The other peered up, brown eyes narrowed in concentration. They widened when Therion held his hand out.

“Did you drop this?”

The man let out a relieved sigh, taking the vial from Therion’s hand.

“Yes! Thank you so much!” he exclaimed, standing up. “My friend needs this to save his little sister’s life. She was bitten by a Blotted Viper, and without this venom, she can’t be cured.”

Therion nodded and walked on, hoping he’d find more luck with the next townsperson. He stumbled a little and caught himself, gripping his side again. He squinted, shaking his head at the spots that were appearing in his vision.

“Hey—hey mister,” he heard a voice say from far away. “Hey, are you alright?”

The next thing Therion knew was a sensation he would rather forget. Sudden vertigo gripped him and he was falling. Falling far, fast and hard as a shout was carried to him on the wind.

_“Farewell, Therion! It was nice knowing you!”_

His stomach leapt to his throat as the ground rushed up to meet him.

* * *

His eyelids were incredibly heavy. Something soft and warm was smothering him, pinning him to the pallet beneath. He grunted and opened his eyes. A blurry face appeared in front of him, and a cool hand touched his forehead. Therion weakly jerked his head away, blinking his eyes to focus them.

“Easy now.” Therion turned his head to follow the face that was now leaning away from him, watching him sort through bottles on the table beside him. The man had a mop of messy brown hair that was barely tied back into a ponytail. His brown eyes looked him over in concern. He seemed familiar for some reason.

“Looks like you’ve still got a bit of a fever—it was lucky you got here when you did. If that wound festered a little longer, I don’t think there would have been anything I could have done.” He uncorked a bottle and tipped some of the leafy contents into a mortar, then selected a vial of fine powder to mix with it. Finally, he opened something that smelled sickly sweet, making Therion wrinkle his nose. Was he an apothecary, maybe? He picked up his pestle and started grinding the ingredients together.

“Who are you?” Therion asked, brows lowered in suspicion.

“You bumped into me,” he replied, ignoring his question. The scrape of stone on stone accompanied his words. “Just outside. Gave me a bottle I dropped before you collapsed. Remember?”

Therion didn’t remember. The last thing he could recall was that giant lizard crawling out of the water to meet him, maw open to reveal dozens of sharp teeth. Giving something to someone without trying to make something off of it didn’t sound like him, either. He hummed, thoughtfully. There was no reason this person needed to know that.

“Will you let me help you sit up?”

Therion glared, and tried to push himself up, biting back a cry before he fell back against the sheets.

“Whoa, there,” the apothecary reprimanded, gently, slipping his arm under Therion’s bare shoulders. He tensed as he was pushed up, alarmed to realize he was only in his smallclothes. He scanned the room quickly, finding his other garments folded on a nearby chair.

“Easy does it,” the man continued, pushing Therion until he was upright. With his free hand, he stacked some pillows behind him. “There you go,” he said soothingly, letting Therion recline back against the support. Therion could feel his ears burning. To be at the mercy of this bumpkin was humiliating.

“Who are you?” Therion repeated, scowling. The other smiled at him, chuckling a little.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, rubbing ruefully at the back of his head. “My name is Alfyn. Alfyn Greengrass. Nice to meet you, uh—”

“Why am I here? Where is here?” Therion cut him off, deliberately avoiding his question.

“You’re injured,” Alfyn said, slowly. “You collapsed outside, so I brought you in to give you medical attention.” Therion shook his head, frustrated. “This is Clearbrook. In the Riverlands.”

Therion tried to put the pieces together, puzzling out what had happened. He left for Noblecourt two days ago (was it two days ago, now? How much time had passed?) and decided to go south to avoid the fierce storms that were coming down from the north. He remembered speaking to a woman about an egg and thought about trying to look for it when that beast came out of the water. He shivered a little as he thought of the monster. Therion never did much travel in the Riverlands before now. He had never seen anything like it before.

“So,” the man said, softly, “I get the feeling you’re not gonna tell me your name.” Therion looked over, eyes narrowing at the nervous smile on Alfyn’s face. Alfyn shrugged at his expression. “I’m not that surprised,” he said, nodding his head toward Therion’s right hand. Therion frowned for a minute before glancing down at his arm, blinking at the silver shackle that glinted in the lamplight. He tucked it under the blankets, swallowing nervously.

“What will you do with me?” he asked, eyes downcast. He was too weak to sit up without assistance, let alone walk out the door.

“Let me pull this blanket down, eh?” Alfyn said, tugging the cover down to his hips, revealing old, ugly scars that the thief tried to keep hidden. Therion twitched and watched as he unwrapped some bloodied bandages that were tied around his waist. Therion’s mouth dropped open when he saw his wound. It was disgusting. There were bloody gouges all around his side, which had turned a dark purple. The wound itself seemed swollen, and Alfyn’s fingers felt like ice against it. Therion shuddered as Alfyn started spreading the reddish paste from his bowl onto the wound.

_Great. Another scar for the collection,_ he thought bitterly.

“Believe it or not, this looked worse than it does now. It smelled, too. I didn’t know if I would be able to save you,” Alfyn said, examining his work before wrapping the wound in clean bandages. Therion felt his heart pounding. He was at this stranger’s mercy, and he had no idea what he wanted. It was bad enough he was under the thumb of that—that _woman_. If he got thrown in prison, he would never get the stupid bangle off his wrist. He would die with his shame on display to the world, all because he somehow stumbled in front of _this_ healer.

“Your name doesn’t really matter,” Alfyn said, gently. “Not to me, anyway.”

“Sure,” Therion scoffed. “Sure. So how long until the guard gets here?”

“Huh?” Alfyn looked perplexed. Therion frowned.

“Come on, don’t act like they aren’t coming. I’m sure you called the second you saw this—this thing on my wrist—”

“Wait, I didn’t—”

“Wasted your time healing me, just to send me to the gaol,” Therion went on, trying and failing to pull away from the other. “It’s not like they’ll care enough to keep up with the treatment once I’m there—”

“I didn’t call the guard!” Alfyn shouted. Therion snapped his mouth shut. Alfyn rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Look, mister, you were hurt and I helped you. And before you passed out in front of me, you helped me. I don’t take that kindness for granted.”

Therion blinked, slowly shaking his head.

By the gods, this man was _stupid_.

“I’m a thief,” Therion said slowly. Alfyn shrugged and grinned at him before turning back to his table to make another concoction. “You _know_ I’m a thief. This—” he rattled the fool’s bangle on his wrist, “—isn’t just for show.”

“I know,” Alfyn said, easily. He poured the new medicine in a cup and turned back towards Therion. “You need to drink this.”

“Why—” he coughed a little as the man shoved the cup against his lips. Alfyn helped him tilt his head back so he could swallow the contents, then put the cup back on the table once it was emptied.

“Shucks,” Alfyn said, easing Therion back down against the pallet. “You helped me, eh? You didn’t have to give that vial back, but you did, and you helped me save someone very dear to me.”

Therion blinked, brow furrowing. “What are you even talking about?”

“You bumped into me earlier,” Alfyn said slowly. “Then I thought I dropped something very important—something I needed to save someone’s life. Just when I was starting to panic, you gave it back to me. You picked that out of my pocket, right?”

“I—wait, so you knew I stole something from you? Why would you help a thief like me? Especially after I took something from you?” Therion must have been really off his game. Not only did this affable idiot know how he made his living, oh no. It also seemed like he just had an ability to keep people talking around him.

Alfyn chuckled. “Well, I didn’t know you stole from me at the time. More like I put two and two together after I looked at your wound,” he said, glancing at the arm hidden beneath the blanket. Therion felt drowsy all of a sudden. his eyelids got heavy again, and he struggled to keep them open. “The truth is, even if you didn’t give it back, I couldn’t leave you to suffer. It’s not what an apothecary does.”

“Huh,” Therion mumbled, smacking his lips. “You know, that attitude is gonna get you in trouble, medicine man.”

“You think so?” Alfyn asked. Therion yawned, feeling his eyes start to close.

“Yeah,” he slurred. “The world’s gonna chew you up and spit you out, if you carry on like that.”

“If you say so, mister,” Alfyn said, adjusting his blankets.

“Therion,” the thief whispered, head foggy and body heavy as he started to doze.

“Therion,” Alfyn said, softly. Therion drifted off, the smell of herbs and powders soothing him to sleep.

“Thanks for worrying about me, Therion.”

* * *

“Therion, wait for me!”

Therion sighed, slumping a little in defeat as he turned around. Alfyn was running to catch up with him, a heavy bag over his shoulder and an axe hanging from his belt. He nearly bumped into several villagers, apologizing as he went by.

“Wheeew,” the healer huffed, panting heavily with a huge smile on his face. “I thought you were gonna leave without me.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Therion asked, flatly. During the time he spent in Alfyn’s care, he learned a great deal about him. He learned a travelling apothecary had saved his life, and ever since then, all he wanted to do was help people the same way. Therion found out all about Zeph and Nina and their shenanigans. He knew that Alfyn’s mother recently passed.

When Alfyn said wanted to explore the continent, Therion suggested they should travel together to keep safe on the road.

He was still wondering what the hell possessed him to say this. He didn’t work well with people. Not anymore.

“Go to Noblecourt?” Alfyn asked. “Help people? See everything there is to see? You bet I want to do this!”

“Even if you’re travelling with someone like me?” Therion asked, shaking his right wrist. It was best to remind the man what he was getting into. Alfyn glanced down at the thief’s hand, then back at his face. Therion wondered if he had scared the healer off.

“You’ve got a story,” Alfyn said, a twinkle in his eye, “and I can tell it’s a good one. How am I gonna find out unless I travel with you?”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Therion scoffed. He turned around and started walking, Alfyn falling into step beside him as he rummaged through his bag. 

“Here,” he said, holding an apple out to Therion. Therion felt his face pull into a small smile.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the apple, biting into it as they walked.

Perhaps having a companion wouldn’t be so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a kudos if you were entertained, and a comment to share your thoughts. I'm [@hanuko](https://hanuko.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, so feel free to come by and say hello!


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